Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    God's Messy Family: Finding Your Place When Life Isn't Perfect
    God's Messy Family: Finding Your Place When Life Isn't Perfect
    God's Messy Family: Finding Your Place When Life Isn't Perfect
    Ebook104 pages1 hour

    God's Messy Family: Finding Your Place When Life Isn't Perfect

    By Jacob Armstrong

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Genealogy is, widely considered to be, one of the fastest growing hobbies in the U.S. We have become consumed with constructing our family tree in an attempt to trace our lineage. Fortunately, the Bible does an excellent job helping us trace the ancestry of our faith family.

    Pastor and author Jacob Armstrong takes an in-depth look at our faith lineage focusing specifically on the messy family dynamics found in the book of Genesis. As we begin to understand the life stories of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Esau we find that their pattern looks a lot like ours—we are called, we mess up, and God continues to redeem us.

    Find out how your “messy family” fits into God’s family and how you are a part of God’s plan for the world. Additional components for a six-week study include a DVD featuring pastor and author Jacob Armstrong and a comprehensive Leader Guide. Also available for your church is a helpful guide to small groups titled The Connected Life: Small Groups that Create Community.

    Chapters include:

    1. The Myth of the Perfect Family
    2.  The Gap Between What God Says and What You See
    3.  No, Nothing Is Too Hard for the Lord
    4.  Loss and Promise in the Family of God
    5.  Promise Maker and Promise Keeper
    6.  The Beauty of Imperfection
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbingdon Press
    Release dateAug 7, 2018
    ISBN9781501843570
    God's Messy Family: Finding Your Place When Life Isn't Perfect
    Author

    Jacob Armstrong

    Jacob Armstrong is the founding pastor of Providence Church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Providence's vision is to see those who are disconnected from God and the church to find hope, healing, and wholeness in Jesus Christ. Jacob is the author of Renovate, A New Playlist, Treasure, The God Story, Upside Down, Loving Large, Interruptions, and The New Adapters.

    Read more from Jacob Armstrong

    Related to God's Messy Family

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Joy! News

      Sep 29, 2023

      Joy! News
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Good With The Bad

      Jan 8, 2021

      The Good With The Bad
      9 min read

    • Article

      Comfort In A Time Of Loss

      Oct 30, 2020

      Comfort In A Time Of Loss
      3 min read

    • Article

      Little People Big Feelings

      Jul 27, 2020

      Little People Big Feelings
      3 min read

    • Article

      Leave As A Pilgrim

      Nov 25, 2023

      Leave As A Pilgrim
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Pastor’s Wife

      May 28, 2021

      The Pastor’s Wife
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Daughter’s Promise

      Mar 25, 2023

      A Daughter’s Promise
      6 min read

    • Article

      Keeper’s Return

      Jan 26, 2023

      Keeper’s Return
      4 min read

    • Article

      Our Second Act

      Sep 26, 2020

      Our Second Act
      6 min read

    • Article

      Young Evangelists Are Answering The Call

      Jul 22, 2022

      Many years ago, Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke spoke of a vision that the Lord had given him of young people preaching the Gospel on the streets of Europe. That vision has taken another step forward with the introduction of Fire Camps – retreats for youn

      3 min read

    • Article

      To the Rescue

      May 26, 2023

      To the Rescue
      6 min read

    • Article

      Why Everyone And No One Can Tell You What Home Means

      Dec 25, 2023

      So, I have just read 19 essays about home, and I still could not tell you exactly what home is. This week’s cover story is all about home, with 19 contributors offering what it means to them, in keeping with the holiday season, when home is so often

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Miracles of Holy Week

      Mar 26, 2022

      The Miracles of Holy Week
      4 min read

    • Article

      “I Felt a Connection”

      May 26, 2023

      “I Felt a Connection”
      6 min read

    • Article

      Heart in Motion

      Mar 26, 2022

      Heart in Motion
      6 min read

    • Article

      Lifted

      Feb 1, 2024

      Lifted
      5 min read

    • Article

      Lifted

      Oct 1, 2021

      Lifted
      6 min read

    • Article

      Help Wanted

      Mar 25, 2023

      Help Wanted
      6 min read

    • Article

      Best Anniversary Trip Ever!

      Mar 25, 2023

      Best Anniversary Trip Ever!
      6 min read

    • Article

      One Percent

      Jul 26, 2023

      One Percent
      6 min read

    • Article

      Romantic Entanglements Bring Humor And Heartache To Small Town

      Jun 21, 2021

      Katherine Heiny’s novel transplants readers to Boyne City, Michigan, through the keen eyes of the town’s new schoolteacher.

      3 min read

    • Article

      My Journey to Healing

      Mar 26, 2022

      My Journey to Healing
      7 min read

    • Article

      Christmas Is About Receiving

      Dec 19, 2017

      A Christian Science perspective: The ever-present Christ, God’s message of infinite love for all, comes to each one of us.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Mar 10, 2023

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for God's Messy Family

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      God's Messy Family - Jacob Armstrong

      1

      THE MYTH OF THE PERFECT FAMILY

      My wife and I have a group of people with whom we do life. We sort of do everything together. I think that is what doing life means. We have been part of a small group at our church with these people for nearly ten years. Our kids have grown up together; actually we have all grown up together. Most of us are married, some are single. We have seemingly gone through it all: illnesses, graduations, promotions, demotions. We have experienced life together and, sadly, death together. Just last year we lost one of our beloved group members to cancer. I don’t even like to say that we are like family. We are family.

      Several years ago, when my wife Rachel was pregnant with our third daughter, a couple from our group, Brian and Hollie, told us they were adopting a child. They had just been approved to adopt a son from Ethiopia. We followed their plans closely. We prayed for them and bought them baby gifts. We ate with them at our local Ethiopian restaurant as we dreamed about life with their new son and tried to learn more about his culture.

      I remember when they were told his name: Tamirat Yishak. One night at the Ethiopian restaurant they asked the waitress the meaning of Tamirat. She said, America. Brian and Hollie thought that was strange, a son named America. As they discussed it with the waitress, the restaurant owner came from the kitchen and cleared up the confusion. He said, No, no, no, you misheard her. His name does not mean ‘America’; it means ‘a miracle.’ Brian and Hollie decided to keep the name his birth parents had given him: Tamirat Yishak. We call him Ty for short. He is our miracle.

      Ty and my daughter Phoebe have grown up together since they were babies. They are both spirited, and they’ve had many disagreements and more than one argument over a toy. They laugh together. They cry together. They get on each other’s nerves. Sometimes they play for hours without even noticing the passage of time.

      Ty and Phoebe are family. But when our two families are together—five girls and one boy (sorry, Ty!)—it is . . . well, a mess. We clutter up the kitchen. We spread out toys. We track mud onto the floor. And it’s loud, trust me. But it’s our messy family, and we love it.

      Meet God’s Family

      Most likely there are parts of your family that are a mess—either your biological family or a family of friends. That’s what this book is about, a really messy family. It’s about what I would call the family in the Bible. A family known as God’s family. They are a big, beautiful mess, and the best part is that we’ve all been adopted into it. It’s important you know that. You have been included not in a perfect family, but in a family where your imperfections are known and you are loved anyway. Understanding your place in this family may be the most important thing you ever do.

      But before I can tell you about this family—your family—we need to discuss the myth of the perfect family. Somewhere along the way we came up with this idea of a perfect family. They dress just right, they get along fine, and they look nothing like our real family. Maybe the myth took shape for you when, as a child, you visited a friend’s family who appeared to have it all together. Maybe they ate around a table every night. Maybe the parents seemed happily married, while your parents fought every night. Maybe you watched a TV show such as Leave It to Beaver that seemed to present a family without flaws. But the perfect family is a myth. In fact, the goal of family isn’t perfection. It’s knowing and being known. It’s connection. It’s finding your place in a world where often we feel out of place.

      Abraham’s family (maybe you’ve heard of them) is pretty much the family in the Bible. Abraham, the father of the family, eventually becomes known as the father of all God’s people, Father Abraham. Abraham has a son named Isaac, and Isaac has a son named Jacob. These two sons become so important that in the Bible, God is often referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Imagine that! Your family becomes known as God’s family. They are the most highly revered fathers, and their wives—Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel—are the most highly revered mothers. In biblical times, every Hebrew family knew those names. When the stories of Abraham’s family were told around glowing campfires, it was not unlike our family gatherings around glowing TV sets. Those families, like our families, said, This is us.

      The people of God (the Jews) and the followers of Jesus (the Christians) all say they are part of Father Abraham’s family. Muslims, too, trace their lineage to this ancient patriarch. Today almost four billion people are connected to the spiritual family of Abraham. Are they the perfect family? Only if you overlook the first story about Abraham and Sarah, when Abraham lied. Perfect family? Only if you forget that Abraham moved away from his closest family members because they argued too much. You also have to forget that Isaac actually wasn’t Abraham’s first son; Abraham had a son with another woman while he was still married to Sarah. And Jacob wasn’t Isaac’s first son either. That was Esau, and Jacob tricked Esau into selling his birthright. Jacob took the birthright from Esau and lied to his father. Jacob’s sons, enraged, ended up selling Joseph into slavery. Lying, cheating, arguing—this is us? Of course it

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1